Intel Develops Tech for ''Pillow Proof'' Laptops

By Jane McEntegart
published

One of the best things about laptops is that they allow you to work from pretty much anywhere. Unfortunately, as anyone working from the couch or their bed will know, using a pillow as a makeshift desk can mean things get pretty warm pretty quickly.

(Image credit: Four Walls No Limits)

At IDF this week, Intel engineers revealed that they had come up with a "pillow-proof" technology to eliminate that 10°C difference in temperature that occurs when a laptop is placed on a bed or blanket as opposed to a desk.

Unfortunately for us, Intel didn't want to talk about how it actually fixed the problem – Reg Hardware reports that the guys at IDF declined to discuss it – but aside from helping those of us lucky enough to work from home, it will also contribute towards better notebook designs in general. With the new technology, manufacturers can develop more powerful notebooks that don't require more powerful cooling mechanisms.

Sounds great, Intel. Now spill the beans on how your technology works!

Source: Reg Hardware

Jane McEntegart
58 Comments Comment from the forums
  • The_Prophecy
    Aww.... they had to go and pic my interest...
    Reply
  • nebun
    do you really think that they are going to let this info out? AMD and nVidia would be all over it.
    Reply
  • husker
    Well, there is only possibility and that is the heat has to be dissipated out the top of the laptop, rather than the traditional ways of blowing air out the back, sides, or bottom. There ya go mystery solved and I'm not even an engineer.
    Reply
  • bobusboy
    10*C are you kidding me! my laptop jumps up from 70*C to 100*C on a pillow.
    Reply
  • terror112
    This isn't news to me, my Asus 1201N ultra-portable doesn't suffer increases in temperature when on a non-ideal surface, because the engineers were smart enough to put the air intake vents at the front of the ultra-portable in a addition to the bottom. And yes, with nvidia graphics and dual core atom, a fan is necessary. All they have to do is implement the same Seashell design on all laptops and I guarantee the pillow problems will go away.
    Reply
  • lpedraja2002
    what terror described is actually the best way to prevent the overheating from the pillows.

    Now, knowing intel they probably have specialized software drives for a function for you to enable or disable whenever you put your laptop on a pillow and the function probably includes underclocking the cpu :O
    Reply
  • terror112, we don't own the same 1201N, I can only recall one exhausting fan on the left side which even when on a desk is blowing death hot air (very hot). The only way to get over this problem as husker said is to put the intake and exhaust air conducts on the screen lid (at the really top of it once opened) no big mistery
    Reply
  • Chipi
    HP already did this with their ProBook line. The air is sucked in from the top, through spaces between the keys.
    Reply
  • terror112
    The problem I see with having vents through the top is all the small particles that could easily get inside there, as well as if you spill something... even a little spill, it could potentially damage the computer, where if the vents where somewhere else, there could be less damage. And where the intakes are is almost irrelevant as long as the intake is not on the bottom, where said pillow will be blocking it. And why was I marked down? I believe that was a legitimate point.
    Reply
  • mman74
    Were this Apple, would they suggest that we were sleeping on the wrong kind of pillow covers and bed-sheets? May be plastic ones don't block the air vents so much?
    Reply